The Filipino penchant for Christmas is assumed to be something collectively shared by all Filipinos. My colleagues caught me listening to Christmas songs last May and naturally thought that I am a huge fan of December 25th. (I happened to chance upon an iTunes radio station that played Christmas songs and found myself listening longer than intended and tweeting about it.)
Am I a fan of Christmas? Yes and no.
Yes, because it’s the traditional date that we celebrate the coming of our Savior. Without which, we would have no hope at all. At. All.
No, because I don’t like the traffic and I wish I were a millionaire so I could pull an Ellen and buy people ah-mah-zing gifts.
As a child, I grew up with a Martha Stewart-esque mom who always had the tree up before Thanksgiving and the ENTIRE house decorated. When we moved to the Philippines, she turned it up a notch and actually changed Christmas themes and decor every year by hand making her own ornaments and trappings. One year, native wicker, another, purple everything. Trust me, it did look good.
After she died — and since I didn’t pick up the Martha-ness — I lost the will to put in the Christmas effort. Sad, I know. My poor Kyera went from elaborately ornate Gamma’s house to foot tall talking tree that had eyes, nose, and a mouth that opened and shouted, “Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!” as it sensed motion nearby. My friends berated me and I did end up buying us a cute 3 ft tree that stood proudly on a box covered with a sheet.
Thank God, my little girl was smart and sensitive to know that our life was altered forever by my mom’s passing. Her little heart forgave me for my Christmas shortcomings which I made up for with weekend stays at hotels and gifts, gifts, gifts galore.
This Christmas is Kyera’s third in the US. Our first was in Orlando a month after Kyera arrived from Manila so it was a lonely, sad Christmas because we really didn’t know anyone except my aunt and cousin. Our second Christmas, 2008, was at our Filipino pastor’s house with four other Filipino families. We had a blast talking, singing, eating, and laughing late into the night. And then we drove home at 3AM back to our quiet, empty, cold apartment.
We almost didn’t put up our tree this year. I kept putting it off . . . putting it off. . . putting it off. The thought of wading through boxes in our storage to drag out the tree felt like a need to go to the dentist. A necessary evil, I mean, thing. But put it up I did. Kyera decorated it. I took a video and posted it on my Vimeo.
Our 6 foot tall tree with lights!
I must confess that now that it’s up, so is my Christmas spirit. I love the glow of its built-in lights, love the ornaments that Kyera and I have made our tradition to hang, love watching our dogs’ fascination with this new piece of furniture to sniff.
Life is good; God is good; I have everything to be thankful for and nothing to complain about.
